Vandermere is such a great read, brilliantly narrated. I especially enjoyed the supernatural edge to the story and the fact that it is set in a circus. The narrator did a fantastic job capturing Vandy’s spirit. It has dark themes and language but, overall this is a solid five stars. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read an audio ARC.

Vandemere by Kimberley D Tait (book 1 in the Circ de Tarot duology). I enjoyed the narrator, Kyle Shive, but I did speed the audio slightly as he enunciates each and every word which was just a little too slow for me.

The book is set in America during the 1930’s and follows a travelling circus. The main character is 17-year-old trick rider Vandemere (Vandy) Petruska. His father, Del Davidson, is a famous horse trainer and from a young age Vandy was taught to perform. He also received certain magical gifts from his mother, Beth Petruska, who is a famous tarot reader. Del has left the family and Vandy feels responsible.

When his Romanian ancestors immigrated to America generations previously with a special trick horse (named Vandemere, who Vandy is named after), they also brought something evil with them. Now this evil is attacking him. Vandy has always tried to suppress the magic powers that he has as he feels that it is a dark and scary presence, but lately he has been having blackouts and he has started seeing visions.

His mother tells him she cant protect him anymore and he needs to go live with his father, but the circus is the only life he knows.

This book was okay but I think it was more about laying the foundation for what will still happen in book 2, Fire Horse. I look forward to seeing what will happen to Vandy and his horse.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audio of this book.

I share my review on Goodreads and my bookstagram account but I am never able to copy the link here.

If you are in the mood for a gritty, dustbowl-era, read about a travelling circus with some real magic users, this may be for you.

Vandemere, aka Vandy, is teenager who has lived an incredibly rough life on the road with the traveling circus with his mom and, for a while, with his dad, before his dad left. There is a lot of guilt and blame between mother and son and that was probably one of my biggest hiccups with this book because Vandy's character is frequently not very likeable due to his words and actions towards others and his mom is also not incredibly sympathetic nor a very good mother.

This is the first in a duology and I am incredibly interested in exploring the second in this series to see where we go with the magic he has inherited from his Romanian ancestors as well as a dark force which is haunting his every step. I do hope book two starts to give me a bit of hope for Vandy and his future. Though the story and premise was incredibly intriguing, I was a bit sad by the lack of hope for a positive outcome. I'm crossing fingers we will see some big turn in this young guy's journey towards growing up and accepting the powers he's gained.

Vandermere
Or Vandy as he is often called, is a trick rider for a traveling circus. He is kind of a lonely, angry teenager struggling with two sides of himself. The Del Davidson side, following in his father’s footsteps, he is the most fearless and amazing trick rider there is. We get glimpses of how this side was formed via memories of Vandy’s early years. Vandy is shaped by his interactions with Del who taught him to be high-achieving and tough.

“You’re going to get hurt Vandy. I wish I can protect you from all the sharp edges of the world but I can’t. You’re going to fall off that horse and then you’re going to get banged around. With any luck, you’ll come out a lot stronger than you were when you went in. Life is a battleground. The sooner you learn to fight your way out of it. The sooner you learn there is nothing to be afraid of. You are going to end up hating me for making you do this but I promise I’ll always be around to dust you off.” (Transcribed from audiobook, please excuse typos.)

Bonnie Petruska, his mother, had differing opinions on how Vandy should be raised. The fights and Del’s ensuing departure, left Vandy feeling like he is to be blamed, he is unworthy and he is unwanted. Bonnie is not quite herself anymore, now a drunk and hooking up with a carnie that despises Vandy.

The Petruska’s magie or psychic abilities that Vandy was avoiding, is getting strong now that he is older. It’s gotten him tangled up in a missing girl’s murder investigation. Does he embrace this side of himself and learn to wield it or will he be destroyed by it?

Vandemere’s character development is written well and the various character’s backstories are interesting. Kimberley D. Tait provides a good visual for a typical traveling circus, down to the various circus animals.

This story is young adult but there are mentions of r@pe, descriptions of intimate touches and discussions of death.

This book ends on a cliffhanger. Vandemere must venture on to find the truth about the Magie in Fire Horse (Circ de Tarot #2). I look forward to listening to the conclusion of Vandemere’s story.

Kyle Shive does a great job narrating the audiobook. His voice is soothing. He enunciated each word and used different voices for the different characters. I will definitely keep an eye out for other titles he narrates.

Lastly, a big thank you to Kimberley D. Tait and Netgalley for providing the ALC of this book.

TROPES/ THEMES: magic, psychic abilities, coming of age

A magical coming of age story about a traveling carnival trick rider coping with his repressed magical inheritance that apparently came with an insidious unconscious evil intending to cause havoc.

Set in the American southwest of the 1930s, Vandy (Vandemere) is a truck riding carnie who experiences black outs every time he uses his “magie”. This magie is a power he has inherited from his mothers Romanian side, that as a kid was warned never to use, but now as a 17 year old his magie is taking over a mind of its own and overpowering his conscious mind to be unleashed.

This was a little confusing at times but questions are answered throughout the story in his memories/past history. This is currently free to read on NetGalley and my interest was piqued on the beautiful cover before reading the book description. Overall a magical young adult read with some mature themes. There is a second book and this can be read in any order, however the author recommends reading this one first. I will definitely be picking up the second book as well.

I listened to the audiobook.
It was narrated by Kyle Shive.
Kyle Shive did an excellent job breathing life into this production. His conveyance of emotion had me enthralled. It was like he was Vandy.
The book was beautifully written. As someone who traveled with the carnival, and sometimes the circus, at an early age, the descriptions brought back fond memories of the midway. The feeling of family was well expressed within the carnie and gypsy community.
Some might find the terminology upsetting but in the era the book describes, these are the words used to describe the people who lived it by the people who lived it. While my time was during the 1970s and this book was set in the early 1900s, it still felt the same.
There are times that you won't be able to tell if Vandy is experiencing reality or something else, I feel that really makes this more captivating. There are so many different personalities on display. I can't wait to read the next book to learn even more about these characters.

Vandemere (Vandy) Petruska is circus through and through. Born and raised to perform trick riding on his father's horses, his life would be perfect if it weren't for the fact that his father left, his mother is a drunk with bad taste in men, and the magie that he inherited from his mom is getting stronger and more dangerous by the minute.

The story pulled me in from page one, and I loved reading about Vandy's life, both as a kid stuck between his parents' very different ideas of what his life should be and as a teenager who finds himself unwittingly (and unfairly) embroiled in a missing child case. The way that Tait treats the mysterious magic that Vandy can wield makes for intense moments that add to the overall uneasy vibe of the story. It's tense and slightly bleak while also showing what perseverance and not giving up can achieve, giving it a nice balance that kept me turning pages even when things got highly depressive.

I was impressed with Kyle Shive's narration because you can very easily tell who's talking and what their intentions and mood are. The story is good enough that I was all in on it already, but Shive makes it feel like you're living it along with Vandy.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Kimberley D. Tait for the positively peculiar read!

This audiobook left me breathless a few times. The plot was unlike anything I have encountered previously as it was set in the 1930's about a 17yr boy Vandemere who worked in a circus as a trick rider. The idea of the magie’s as a physic ability was intriguing and never fully explained. I guess that's the hook for book two and I'll definitely be checking it out. I'm fully invested in where his store takes him as the obstacles he must overcome seem to be piling up.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free eaudio-arc of this book. It is readily available to read for anyone if you're interested.


This was an interesting read. It started off mainly earning about the main character and his background in the traveling circus, though I thought that it would focus a little more on the circus life than what it did. The story took a sort of paranormal/mystery turn towards the middle of the book, which was a good twist and played well into the story.

There is a book 2 to the series which I am interested in reading. However, I think I will wait for the audiobook for it as well as I did enjoy the narration.

I really enjoyed this audiobook. The world building was fun, impressive and mysterious. The main character has a complex back story and I would happy listen to the rest of the series. Thanks NetGalley for letting me listen and review.

I loved the setting! And the audio narration was fantastic
It got a little bit lost in itself and sometimes I wanted to tell Vandy to chill out a little/ a lot, He's 17 and it shows
the amount of times it says "virgin" is Hocus Pocus comical

3.5 🌟

To be honest I was drawn in by the mention of the circus life.
Very, very early on though, I'd decided to stay for the narration.
Both the character and the audiobook.
Laid back, a little bit funny, a little bit charming.
Then it hit a point, I don't know what that point was, and it went a little bit crazy.
In a good way.
Though I swear I don't ever need to hear the word virgin again.
Just a really fun listen.
There's a second book.
I'm obviously going to read that.

Beautiful cover, interesting writiing but sadly this book ended up not being for me. I loved the beginning of it but it got confusing and unsatisfying by the middle till the end of the book. I really wanted to love this one.

Vandemere by Kimberley D. Tait is a very interesting story of a 17 year old boy navigating his life as a circus rider and a powerful gifted passed down generations on his mother’s side. This book is very well written. I listened to the audiobook version of the first book in this duology and greatly enjoyed it! The narrator, Kyle Shive, is fantastic!! I look forward to reading the second book. I need to know what happens next to Vandy. Thank you to NetGalley, AudioBee Productions, and Kimberley D. Tait for providing me with an ALC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this audiobook so much. It was fenomenal!
I rated this audiobook 5 stars. Such a cool story and characters. I recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can.

4.5⭐️
Wow! I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would! I’ve mentioned many times that I’m not a history person in my fiction.. but sometimes books come along that are set in an earlier time period and it just hits! This is one of those books.

I read another review that labeled it as an urban fantasy and I absolutely agree. I am thankful to have gotten an audio ALC for free from Netgalley and the author to enjoy which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

I enjoyed the narrator who did a great job with his narration especially with our MMC who embodies and angry teenager. The author really brings him to life and he has these special abilities in a regular world.

Circuses freak me out a bit and this was no exception but it was in such an entertaining way.
This book came out a little over a year ago and I’m so surprised it didn’t get more attention. Im not sure if the audiobook just came out and that’s why it was on NetGalley or what but I’m glad it was!

I’m going to get myself a physical copy to have on hand and o think you should too!

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again